Post Op. Contest

I pretty much cannot walk this afternoon after my leg workout. It is true that those who enjoy lifting weights are little masochistic, so I can’t complain to much.

The workout started with straight sets of leg press calf raises as warm up, followed by a constant drop movement, where plates were taken off during the entire exercise. The weight dropped from 360, down to 90 by the end of the first two sets. At the end, 90lbs remained and the bar was pressed downward as additional stress on the calves and finish them off. By the third set, it was a straight drop followed by an additional stress press to finish off the calves.

Upon completion of the calves, it was followed by strict seated leg curls. This was done with a drop set format and assisted completions after I was unable to complete the reps myself. During this time, contract holds and additional resistance was thrown into the mix to further exhaust the hamstrings.

Limping off the machine, it was time to work on modified hyper-extensions. On the upright hyper-extension, knees are bent, hips forward and allow for an overly exaggerated arch in the back. This will place the sole tension on the hamstrings. To complicate things further, a 25lbs plate is held and as the body moves upwards, the plate is extended. Once I’m unable to complete the movement without the weight, I dropped the weight then move my hands out forward in the superman fashion. Eventually, fatigue sets in and the final stage of this exercise where the hands are placed behind the back, where the resistance is lower and can finish off the exercise. Once the set is done, I lean forward/upside down to stretch out the hamstrings and hold the position for about 15 seconds. (Repeat two more times)

Thoroughly fatigued it’s time to work on the quads. We’re looking towards the leg extension, (hammer strength version) where the focus will be on isolation of the quads. The legs are set to extend on an alternate motion, one goes up/other goes down and so on. This puts extra emphasis on the quads and allows for increased separation of the muscle to assist in further definition. The movements are slow and controlled, bouncing is not allowed and there is a pause after each movement. Cramping of the muscle is the ultimate goal, making it weak and depleted. (repeat 2 more times, but you may have to drop the weight during the exercise)

The last portion of the workout was a combo sissy squat/giant lunges. The smith machine was used to assist with the sissy squat, where you fingers are attached to the bar, on your tip toes, knees to the floor, back is arched and you’re looking up at the sky. Use the quads to push you up to the bar… repeat. This was done until I was fatigued and could not perform the exercise. Once completed, it was time for lunges. Lead with the heel and push back with the heel, then alternate the legs. The combo of these two will assist in working with your leg definition and It’s extremely tiring. I could only complete this through two routines.

The fatigue may be due to the dieting for the contest, either way it goes along with the territory and I have to suck it up. It’s now later in the evening and I’m pretty much sore through the lower half of my body. Enjoy. kt

So a new variation to my chest workout was thrown into the mix monday. It involved tri drops and double drops, with a mix of three different exercises. This involved incline flyes with two sets with triple drops, followed by flat flyes double drops, with the end result of decline flyes going to double drops. All sets are done to failure, with a mix of partial reps towards the end. Finishing off, have Ian Harrison hold your arms down and count “really friggin slow”, I’m sensing the man enjoyed that.

Once the chest is thoroughly burned, triceps are to follow. Seated French presses with strict movement are required. This is done with a double drop and locking/squeezing out the triceps to finish the muscle. Continuing further, Ian wants to finish off the triceps with seated dips, with a 45lbs plate resting along my legs. The focus needs to be my butt touching the ground with a full extension in the vertical position. This was done for three sets, after the first set the plate was taken off since the tri’s were fatigued. The final two sets were completed with diminishing returns, but very effective.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness:

If you’ve ever lifted weights or exercised, chances are you’ve felt it. This I believe is the number one cause of people not returning to the gym or any other exercise routine. The body uses oxygen to function, but when the body cannot keep pace with the required need it transfers into a anaerobic state of energy use. This energy comes from glucose and is broken down further into pyruvate – further breaking down into lactate which allows the body to continue the exercise and use more energy.

When the levels of lactate reach elevated levels, there’s an increase of acidity within the muscle. In this environment, the body works in less efficient levels. Slowly, after oxygen increases lactate goes back into pyruvate and allow the body for further recovery. There is a common assumption that the lactic acid is responsible for the muscle soreness felt roughly two days after a workout. The lactic acid does cause the burning sensation felt during the exercise, but there isn’t a clear reason why the muscles become sore. One common consensus is the body is trying to get the body to slow down so it can recover properly. Research has been done in high lactic acid levels and muscle soreness after a workout and there currently is not a common link.

Either way, the soreness is response from the muscle cell damage and most likely resulted in the release of other chemicals within the body. The cause of DOMS is still unknown, but these chemical and metabolites released in the body most likely cause muscle inflammation, swelling and soreness.

I manage an office of ten and it seems like every other day they bring in cookies, throw a party or having something to celebrate the wonders of crap food. During this time, most of them are complaining about adding on extra weight and can’t figure out their starvation isn’t going to work. So it appears that no matter how many times I attempt to explain (In a non-blunt fashion) it doesn’t sink in. It’s a little frustrating, but that’s life I guess. It took several month, but they no longer offer me food and during my birthday they didn’t bring a cake or snacks, the office got to enjoy my birthday bannana.

The overall effect of the diet is amazing, but it’s a struggle to finish my workouts and it practically saps my energy for the rest of the day. My diet is goes in a random cycle where some days are 300g of carbs, others 200g and 100g. This allows for a simple shock and awe effect to the body. Once a week (usually Saturday mornings) I have a binge day which will last until 2:00 pm. Pretty much anything is on the table.
Last week - 1/2 gallon of ice-cream, 3 waffles, 2 blt’s, about 10 home cooked cookies, fruits and I think a snickers bar was thrown in there. It totaled a little over 5000 calories, equaled a sick wife and son who wanted to try my waffle/ice-cream combo.

The theory in this madness is the supercharge the body, restore a balance in the system and allow for a very strict diet for the remainder of the week. It also helps me look forward to the weekend a little bit more.

While the diet is going through, the workouts are toned down a little. I’m not increasing the number of sets or reps - to me this is stupid. I was able to put on size and muscle due to workout habits before, they aren’t going to change much since it has the potential of ruining the whole deal. The workouts are now more straight sets - forced, dropped and supersets are done until the after the competition.

Most injuries occur during the diet phase and the body just won’t be able to recover. (added note - make sure to take multi vitamins and vitamin C) As the contest nears the diet will continue on the course. Within a two week time phrame, I’ve dropped about 12lbs and maintained a lot of muscle. Definition is increasing and the waist line is trimming down.

The entire process is a blast, but it’s difficult to maintain the energy and focus on certain days. Especially when you come home from work and your two boys want to play and you struggle through. (they don’t know I’m hurting, but that’s what tylenol is for)

This is my last binge day until the contest in September. I did a trial run yesterday of the diet for the next nine weeks and it’ll be a challenge, yet not impossible. This is short and sweet and will post the basic diet and routines this weekend.

I’m a big fan of the muscle magazines and all things that relate to bodybuilding. The only gripe I would have is the consistent notion that all workouts are all for one and one for all - or Cookie Cutter Training. The common thought would be every person can increase their muscle size by increasing the number of exercises or repetitions to build muscle and it has to be through a consistent high rep/double split workout routine. 

This type of program works for some, but not all bodies are created equal. The body does not remember or count the number of times you bench or the number curls you do for biceps. The body will respond to the microtrauma of an intense workout by building a bigger muscle, this can be through short workouts with extreme intensity or high reps. The problem I have with the more reps and increased exercise is the body’s ability to recover from the workouts.

The following are side effects of the increased workouts and not allowing the proper time to recover.

• More muscle fibers are torn (microtrauma) and the body does not have time to recover.
• Possible protein deficiency - most people have issues with the proper amount of food intake for their diets. An increased need for more amino acids needs to be considered.
• Followed by an increased need for additional calories that most people lack
• The body moves into a catabolic state instead of anabolic, due to lack of proper dieting.

Looking on the boards for the past few years, some of the side effects below are very common.

• muscle soreness
• fatigue
• injuries - more frequent
• depression
• lack of motivation
• decreased appetite
• decreased sex drive
• weight loss
• decreased strength

This isn’t a bash on the high rep and sets crew. There are places for these workouts, but from looking at the magazines and other advice there isn’t a notice about other issues that could appear with the workouts.

Since meeting up with Ian, we’ve changed up the diet and workout program. Instead of the overtraining of the past, it’s been changed to each bodypart getting worked out once a week. Which is four workouts at approximately 30 minutes - the intensity is like nothing I’ve experienced and have even lost the use of my legs during my last leg workout.

The diet has been cleaned up and worked on for the past three weeks. My bodyfat has dropped, while the total muscle mass has increased. I’ve shot from 215 to 230 during this time and my waist line is getting smaller. I eat approximately 290 grams of protein daily and eat about 8 - 10k calories on friday. This will continue through July, then the diet gets remodified for the competition that’s coming up quick in september.

The change isn’t just in my head, but co-workers and family have noticed the change which is solidifying my view of the workout style I’ve been introduce with Ian.

 kt

A common thread I’ve seen is not having enough time to workout, due to other obligations. I’ve always found that as an excuse for not going to the gym. I find this excuse as the lazy way out of training and achieving your goals. Everyone has a busy schedule, some are more then others.

I work 40+ hours a week and manage a staff of ten, have a awesome wife with two incredible boys (2 years and 6 months), go to school part-time (Econ degree in the fall). I don’t make the excuse of not having enough time to do the one outside activity that allows me to compete and stay healthy. Proper time management and an understanding family are the key.

I’m sure there are others our there who have the same issues with the slackers who use work and family as an excuse, I’m just ranting from a post I read earlier in the day.

Sometimes there are activities that we are unable to bring our own food to eat better. Amusement parks are fun, but play major havoc on trying to keep your diet on track. After arriving at the park, I was able to locate all eateries inside the park. Looking at the options, I wanted to stay away from fastfood and other junk.

I did find a rib restaraunt at the park (my wife told me about it) and was able to have shredded pork and fruit to hold me over. There wasn’t a lot of fat or unnecessary crap out of the meal and the food was better then the fast food garbage typically served at the parks.  It was enough to hold me over until i got home to have a shake and a egg salad for the weekend.

estimated protein - 30g out of the trip.